Friday, December 10Vols a 'different team' this timeBy Mike GriffithScripps Howard News ServiceKNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee will get a chance to get even with the
bully who kicked sand in its face two years ago in the Orange Bowl.
Nebraska pounded the Peyton Manning-led Vols 42-17 to win a share of the 1997 national championship.
The Fiesta Bowl is offering Tennessee redemption, having paired the Vols and the Cornhuskers for its Jan. 2 classic at Sun Devil Stadium
in Tempe, Ariz.
"Nebraska kind of manhandled us the last time," said UT's Chad
Clifton, a 6-7, 330-pound offensive tackle. "But now, we're more
balanced. This really is a different type of Tennessee team."
The Cornhuskers battered the Vols in the trenches in the first and
only meeting between the teams.
Tennessee's finesse style of attack was largely ineffective against
Nebraska's swarming "Black Shirts" defense.
Meanwhile, the Big Red's offense dwarfed the Big Orange's defense,
as the Huskers relentless ground game piled up 409 yards.
Nebraska's theme in 1997 was "Leave No Doubt," and the Huskers
stayed true to their word, much to the delight of their globally
renowned strength coach, Boyd Epley.
"It happened in the third quarter, when we ran about 11 plays
right down the field and wore down Tennessee," Epley said before the
start of this season. "That's what we were trying to do, leave no
doubt who the best conditioned team was. We made believers of them."
Fulmer, who at 76-13 (.854) has the highest winning percentage of
any active coach, used the loss as a learning tool.
"We took some lessons learned in the Orange Bowl and that really
helped propel our season in '98," Fulmer said. "Just the
physicalness of playing at that level, it certainly proved we had some
work to do. We made some good strides that way."
The Vols won the 1998 national championship with a physical running
game and a beefed-up defense, and they're 9-2 and ranked No. 5 with a
similar personality this season.
Nebraska hasn't changed much since the teams' last meeting. The Big
12 champions are still big and brutal.
"We have our areas where we are fairly physical," said Huskers'
coach Frank Solich, whose team is fifth in the nation rushing the ball
(268 yards per game) and seventh in the country at stopping the run
(83.5 ypg).
"I think the mentality of our football team is very good along
those lines," Solich said. "We've worked on maintaining our strength
throughout the course of the season."
Tennessee senior quarterback Tee Martin has been the strength of
the Vols' offense this season. Martin, who has a 22-2 record as UT's
starting quarterback, developed a knack for making crucial plays over
the last two seasons.
Martin gave a sneak preview of what was to come when he replaced
Manning in the fourth quarter of the '98 Orange Bowl. Martin led the
Vols on an eight-play, 80-yard touchdown drive, completing 4-of-4
passes for 53 yards with an 11-yard scramble mixed in.
"Tee is a little harder to defend because of his mobility and the
things we're able to do with him," Fulmer said. "Maybe we can give
them a few more problems than the last time we played them."
Tennessee strong safety Fred White indicated that the Vols' defense
has plans for a stronger outing as well.
"Nebraska would be a fitting game," White said. "That's the one
team we haven't had a chance to repay."
(Mike Griffith writes for The Knoxville News-Sentinel in
Tennessee.)
